Vending apparatus.



No. 778,480. PATENTED DEC. 27, 1904. G. G ELLIOTT.

VENDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED DEC. 27, 1904.

G. U. ELLIOTT.

VENDING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

[77 22 27751? 37 maazf fi' NTTnn STATES Patented December 2'7, 1904.

PATENT @JFFICE.

GEORGE ORAXVFORD ELLIOTT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOLOUIS O, TAFEL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

VENDING APPARATUS- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.778,480, dated December 27, 1904.

Application filed July 23, 1904. Serial No. 217,777.

To (all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE CRAWFORD E1.- LIOTT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VendingApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference generally to that class of apparatus bywhich certain commodities are automatically released and delivered whenportions of the mechanism are permitted to operate through a releaseeffected by the introduction of a proper coin.

Generally speaking, therefore, the invention contemplates the embodimentof a receptacle adapted to contain the commodities to be vended, amechanism for automatically dispensing such commodities, coin-controlledmechanism adapted to cooperate with the dispensing mechanism when theformer is released for action by the introduction thereinto of a propercoin, and a receptacle for the reception of the coin after it haseffected the release of said mechanism.

This invention further comprehends in the present instance the recordingof the number of operations which take place after the introduction ofthe coin or the number of coins introduced, and, further, the movementof the commodity receptacle or hopper in connection with the movement ofthe dispensing apparatus, whereby it will not be competent for thecommodities to choke or become keyed together within the receptacle insuch a manner as to prevent their delivery.

\Vhile comprehending the adaptation of this invention to thedispensation of various commodities and for which purposes the inventionmay be embodied in various constructions so long as the principle hereofexplained is adhered to, I have for convenience of illustration andexplanation shown an embodiment hereof in an apparatus adapted moreparticularly for vending peanuts or similar articles whose configurationis rather uneven and whose sizes vary. Such embodiment of this inventionis illustrated on the accompanying sheets of drawings, whereon- Figure 1illustrates an elevational View of the entire apparatus; Fig. 2illustrates a 5 transverse section on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3illustrates an enlarged top plan view of the dispensing mechanism. Fig.4 illustrates an elevational view thereof; and Fig. 5 illustrates adetail of the vending-d raw, partly in section. 5 5

In the various figures similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts.

Within the cabinet 5 may be pivoted-for instance, at 6a hopper 7, thepivoting of the hopper being preferably such that said hopper willnormally lean toward what might be here termed the front of the cabinet.Located beneath the hopper 7, which in the present instance may beprovided with an inclined bottom 8, is a hopper 12, mounted on beams 9and 10, respectively, which are secured to the casing by bolts 11, andthis hopper may be supported by standards 13. Movably mounted on saidbeams 9 and 10, respectively, and preferably upon rollers 14 and 15, 7suitably supported thereby, is a longitudinally-reciprocating plate 16,which in the present instance is provided with a pocket 17, adapted whenthe plate 16 is in normal position to register with the mouth of thehopper 12, and this pocket 17 may be provided with a drop-bottom 18,suitably hinged, as at 19, to the wall 20 of such pocket, and thisbottom is permitted to drop into a chute 21 when it passes beyond anedge 22 of an opening in a plate 23, mounted on the under side of saidbeams, whereby the contents of such. pocket will be delivered throughthe chute 21 into a receptacle 241, which in the present instance isattached to the outside of the casing 5. 8 5 This longitudinal member 16in the present instance has movably mounted thereupon a locking device,which in its present construction is in the form of a plate 25, suitablypivoted at 26 to the plate 16 and which in the 9 present instance may beprovided with a laterally-extended tooth 27 on one side and alaterally-extended head 28 on an opposite side. The inner portion ofsaid head will, as it is obvious, serve to limit the movement of saidplate. This plate 25, which oscillates upon the plate 16, prevents thelatter plate from moving longitudinally by reason of the tooth 27contacting against a locking-piece 29, which is suitably hinged, as at30, to one of the beamsfor instance, as 9and which normally bears in adirection toward the plates 16 and 25, respectively, by being urged inthat direction by a spring 31, suitably secured at 32 either to the beamor the hinged plate of the member 30. This oscillating plate 25 in thepresent instance may be provided with an upwardly-extending lug 33, withwhich contacts a spring-actuated movable member 34, mounted in suitablebearings 35 of an extension 36, carried by the main body portion of thehopper 12, and which member 34 in the present instance may be held innormal position by a spring 37, preferably convoluted upon a shaft 38,mounted in said bearings 35, and the movement of this member 3 1 shouldbe limited by a stop 39, which may bear against the extension 36, asseen, for instance, in Fig. 1. This member 34 is adapted to be actuatedby a rod 10, suitably connected with a coin-controlled mechanism.(indicated in a general way by 50,) which may be of any suitableconstruction and which is mounted in the framework of the cabinet 5. Bya rearward action of the rod 10, which is made possible by depositing acoin in a coin-receptacle 51, which releases the coin-controlledmechanism 50, the said member 3a, which is suitably shaped to form a cam52, is forced against the lug 33, whereby the member 34 and the plate 25are subjected to a lateral shift, carrying the tooth 27 out of the pathof the locking member 29, when a pull on the handle 53, extendingoutside of the easing 5, will draw the plate 16 forward until thedrop-bottom 18 of the pocket 17 falls into the mouth of the chute 21. Itmay be remarked that during such movement, just explained, the head 28of the plate 25 will, as seen in dotted lines of Fig. 3, take against apart 55, suitably disposed, whereby such plate will be automaticallyshifted to its initial position, as shown in full lines of said figure,when the tooth 27 will again be extended into the path of the lockingmember 29. This locking member 29 is provided with a detent 5% on theend opposite to that where the tooth 27 normally bears against, and,upon the automatic retraction of the plate 16 through theinstrumentality of the springs 56 and 57 the tooth 27 will cooperatewith such detent 54, and thus prevent the plate 16 from again beingdrawn forward before the handle has been allowed to fully return andanother coin introduced into the coin-controlled apparatus. In otherwords, it is possible to permit the plate 16 to recede almost to a fulllocked position, as shown in Fig. 3, whereby the pocket may be againfilled with the commodity coming from the hopper 12, but thisfraud-preventing detent will not permit the plate 16 to be drawn forwardto such an extent as to allow the bottom 18 of the pocket 17 to fallinto the chute 21. It will be here understood that upon the completeretraction of the plate 16,the plate 25 having assumed its normalposition upon the full out-pulling stroke, the locking member 29 will betemporarily forced outward by the tooth 27 and as soon as such toothpasses beyond the locking member the spring 31 will force the latter toits normal position, when, as seen in Fig. 3, the parts will be normallylocked. It will be understood that the spring 31 is of sufficientstrength to only support the member 29 in an upright position normallyand does not in any way serve to exert any force on the locking-plate.

In order toprevent the arching or packing of the commodities in thehopper 7, there is provided a leg 59, secured to said hopper and whichcommunicates with an edge 60 of the plate 16, so that when the saidplate 16 is drawn forward to a full open position and then normallyreleased the plate 16 will strike against said leg 59, when the hopper 7will receivea shock which will loosen. any packing, choking, or archingthat may have taken place in the hopper.

In order to ascertain the number of the reciprocations the plate 16 hasmade or the amount of money that has been deposited in the device, Iprovide a register 61, suitably mounted for examination, to the spindle62 of which is attached an arm 63, connected to the plate 16, forinstance, as being mounted on a bearing 64:, as seen in Fig. 4:, andwhich arm 63 is slotted, as at 65, so that it may be properly adjustedat will, it being understood, of course, that upon each reciprocation ofthe plate 16 such register will indicate the same. In order to indicatewhen the plate 16 or the handle 53 has been fully drawn out, I provide alug 66,suitably carried on the plate 16, and which at a proper momentcontacts with a spring-hammer 67 which when released by said lug 66strikes against a bell 68, suitably mounted on one of the beams, as 9.Any suitable signaling device, however, as well as any suitableregistering or indicating device may be employed without departing fromthe spirit of this invention.

Inasmuch as the hopper 12 is constantly filled, and that immediatelyafter the initial movement of the plate 16 the bottom of such hopper 12is being closed by such plate 16 in order to avoid the crushing orsqueezing of the commodity, one Wall, as 69, of said hopper 12 ismounted for movement in bearings 7 O and is held in normal position by aspring 71. The coins delivered from the coin apparatus may be receivedinto the receptacle 56, suitably bracketed, as at 57 and 58, to thecabinet 5 and beams 9 and 10, respectively, as shown in Fig. 1. Thus, aswill be seen,

if the commodity within the hopper 12 moves along with the plate 16 thewall 69 will so give, as shown in dotted lines of Fig. 1, as to preventthe crushing of such commodity.

inasmuch as I have embodied the invention in a construction adapted,preferably, to vend peanuts and, as is Well known, peanuts are preferredin a heated state 1 provide suitable means for heating the same, whichmeans in the present instance constitute a lamp 7 3, mounted on abracket 72, secured to the easing 5, and Which lamp is so located thatits heat Will be directed against the bottom 18 of the pocket 17, sothat the peanuts ready for delivery Will be thus properly heated beforedelivery.

As having before pointed out, the particular application of theinvention herein shown constitutes only an embodiment of such inventionand is in no Wise to be construed as limiting this invention to theprecise construction shown, and even in the embodiment set forth hereinthe precise construction and arrangement of parts need not be strictlyadhered to, but may be modified or rearranged according to the bestmechanical skill and judgment Without departingfrom the spirit of theinvention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a vending apparatus,the combination with a reciprocatingdelivery device, of a looking memberpivoted thereto, an oscillating cam suitably mounted, and adapted toshift said locking member out of locking position, and means operatingto shift said locking device intoalocking position during the travel ofthe delivery device, and a movable lug for said locking device carriedby the casing.

2. In a vending apparatus, the combination with a reciprocatingdeliverydevice, of alocking member pivoted thereto, an oscillating cam suitablymounted and adapted to shift said locking member out of lockingposition, and means operating to shift said locking device into alocking position during the travel of the delivery device, and aspring-actuated lug for said locking device carried by the casing.

3. In a vending apparatus, the combination With a spring-actuatedlongitudinally-m ovable delivery device, of a locking device carriedthereby, manually-operated cam for shifting said locking device out ofoperative position, a stationary lug for shifting said locking deviceinto operative position during the movement of the delivery device, aspring-actuated lug carried by the casing and provided With tWo pointsof contact against Which said looking device may operate whereby to locksaid device in tWo different relative positions.

4. In a vending apparatus, the combination With alongitudinally-reciprocating delivery device, of an oscillating platepivoted thereto, a tooth carried by said plate, a stop carried by saidplate for limiting the movement of the latter in one direction, a lugcarried by said plate, an oscillating spring actuated cam adapted tocontact With said lug and shift said plate out of operative position,means for operating the cam, a lug to shift said plate into operativeposition during the movement of the delivery device, and a stop forlimiting the movement of the cam.

5. In a vending apparatus, the combination With alongitudinally-reciprocating delivery device, of a plate pivoted theretoand adapted to move in a plane transverse to the plane of movement ofsaid delivery device, a tooth car ried by said plate, a stop carried bysaid plate to limit the movement thereof, means to engage said plate andshift the tooth out of looking position, a spring-actuated lug adaptedto engage said tooth, and means to shift said tooth into lockingposition during the movement of the delivery device.

Signed at Nos. 9 to 15 Murray street, New York city, New York, this 19thday of July, 1904:.

GEORGE CRAWFORD ELLIOTT.

Witnesses:

FRED. W. BARNAOLO, FRED. J. DOLE.

